Launch year for the Greens is struggling for lift-off
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand has not had a good start to the year. James Shaw announced at the end of January - to the surprise of no-one - that he would step down as co-leader and retire from politics later this year. Shaw has had a good go, leading the Greens since 2015 and as climate change minister was a very visible and very nonthreatening leader who burnished the environmental credentials of the party.
The election of Chlöe Swarbrick, 29, was as straightforward as it was predictable as the only Green politician who appears in preferred prime minister polls - albeit on a very small scale, she was the obvious next choice. She also represents generational change.
But then the news broke of Golriz Ghahraman’s shoplifting peccadilloes (otherwise known as theft) and she pretty promptly quit politics. She was before the courts on Thursday when the extent - and value - of her shoplifting became obvious. To add to the drama she appeared to be accompanied by a man, dressed in black, who tried to shine a torch at the cameras in order to stop photos being taken.
So that obviously wasn’t - and continues not to - be great for the Greens.
Then, amongst the changes and the trouble, last month, new MP Efeso Collins tragically suddenly died, casting a pall over the excited caucus with new members.
Then yesterday Stuff broke the story that new Green MP Darleen Tana had been stood down by the party leadership over claims that she knew more about allegations of her husband’s company exploiting a migrant worker than she let on.
According to the Stuff reporting, Santiago Latour Palma said he was owed $25,000 by Tana’s husband for work done at his company, worked illegally on a tourist visa for him, and asked Tana for help getting his money. Palma said he asked Tana for help and it was refused, despite Tana asking him for IT help on her political campaign.
Tana’s husband, Christian Hoff-Nielsen, denies he owes Palma anything and denies that the matter had anything to do with Tana. The claim is now subject to Employment Relations Authority investigation.
When the complaint was first laid on February 1, Tana disclosed it to the Greens leadership, saying that it was the first she had heard of the issue. When Stuff approached the Green Party for comment on a story on Thursday, the leaders questioned Tana further and determined that she knew more than was first disclosed.
Sins of omission are still sins. And in politics neglecting to tell your party leader important information is most commonly viewed as lying. Trust, at that point, is very difficult to regain.
As a result, Tana was stood down by the Greens ahead of a party investigation by barrister Rachel Burt. Tana says that she welcomes the investigation and will not be commenting further.
Now this story needs to fully run its course. But if it turns out that there was exploitation of a migrant worker, and that Tana knew about it but did nothing, it reeks of hypocrisy, especially for the at times purer-than-thou Green Party. And let’s be honest, the fact that it involved an e-Bike company elevates it from just politics to art.
However, much is still to be proven. And even if the Green Party finds out she did mislead her leaders, the party will then still need to decide what to do about it.
There has been some criticism of the fact that the Green Party leadership knew about the allegations six weeks ago and did nothing. On the face of current facts that seems harsh.
An MP’s husband’s business was subject to an Employment Relations Authority claim that the MP, Tana, claimed to know nothing about.
What is a leadership supposed to do with that - put out a press release saying someone’s spouse has an employment law hearing, which the MP says she knows nothing about and there was no suggestion that she did? No.
Even so, this is very much not the way the Green Party would have wanted to start the year or, indeed, how Swarbrick would have wanted to start her co-leadership.
Fortunately for the party these two incidents have occurred right at the start of a Parliamentary term.
In three years they will most likely be an ancient memory.
This year - and political term - does mark something of an inflexion point
The party got over 11% of the vote last time, by offering a mixture of social activism, progressive left-wing policies and practical environmental and climate policies. At that number, a lot of its voters are middle-class people and those who want the environment protected but don’t wish to overthrow the present system ....
for the far left party with the historical foresight of good branding. While the Greens would argue they have often been at the vanguard of social change something the party is proud of - they were most certainly at the vanguard of good marketing.
While there definitely is an environmental wing, and there have been many Green parliamentarians concerned with practically improving the environment, the party of late has been dominated by social activists whose emphasis seems to be on bringing down the social status quo and reinventing a fairer society.
There was considerable anger from some former MPs and party members over the cooperation agreement with Labour in the last Parliament, with some, such as Sue Bradford and Catherine Delahunty, arguing the Green Party would have been best to leave the Labour Government well alone.
Shaw and Marama Davidson decided it was better to make and influence decisions than simply oppose from the sidelines. Many of the climate change policies brought in by Shaw and worked on by him amount to more action on climate change than in New Zealand’s entire history. Yet the Green Party is an uberdemocratic party where the members have a lot of say, and halfway through the term, Shaw did not get re-elected as leader at his first attempt.
Balancing that tension between environmental and social activism will be of acute importance over the coming term. How Davidson and Swarbrick handle that tension will be interesting to watch.
The party got over 11% of the vote last time, by offering a mixture of social activism, progressive left-wing policies and practical environmental and climate policies. At that number, a lot of its voters are middle-class people and those who want the environment protected but don’t wish to overthrow the present system, under which they have done pretty well.
This latest incident will be greeted with delight by the Greens’ political opponents. Coming only weeks after Swarbrick stated the goal of making the Greens the major progressive party in New Zealand, it now looks like a bit of shambles that
- in common with other small parties struggles to select decent people.
On paper, this should be a launch year for the party. More MPs than ever and in opposition and free to roam and take on what it regards as an extremely right-wing Government. And at a point when the Labour Party is weak.
It could still be that type of year for the Greens. But it has been a very rough start.
Luke Malpass is political editor of The Press